Heavy snow brought South Jersey nearly to a halt on Sunday in a storm that took public officials by surprise. Forecasters had not expected any serious accumulation, but were quickly proven wrong when much of the area laid under a thick white blanket by noon. By 4 p.m., the National Weather Service predicted between 5 and 12 inches of snowfall for the day.

Roads remained busy as cars traveling on major arteries inched along, sometimes drifting through intersections or sliding between lanes. Numerous highways had reduced speed limits in place. The Delaware Memorial Bridge was briefly closed at about 1:30 p.m. “due to ice and multiple accidents,” according to an offical Twitter account, while police radio scanners buzzed through the afternoon with reports of traffic collisions all over South Jersey.

In Millville, emergency responders had to pull a trapped driver from an overturned vehicle. The most severe accident appeared to have occurred along Route 295 in Logan Township, where broadcasts indicated that a car had struck a pedestrian; however, township officials could not be reached for comment.

“Today’s storm certainly took most local and county agencies by surprise,” read a post on the official Pitman Facebook page.

Jeff Ridgway, Salem County highway superintendent, said although the department had prepared for some snow, the severity of the storm had come as a surprise.

“The weather was a little different than predicted,” said Ridgway. “Everything was in place, but when it comes upon you like this, the best you can do is call your people in.

“Everybody is out that was available,” he said of the efforts to clear roads. “They’re doing the best they can right now, and trying to do it safely. That’s the way nature is.”

Many residents were undeterred from running errands.

“It’s been pretty steady,” said an employee at Wawa in Pitman. “It doesn’t seem to be affecting business a whole lot."

Cumberland County received slightly less snow than Gloucester and Salem, but road crews were still out in force.

“They are in full operations,” said County Spokesman Keith Wasserman. He expected workers to take between four and six hours to salt county roads. Wasserman said that hopefully the salt, mixed with rain forecast for the evening, would wash away some of the snow.

“They’re getting a little more than they expected,” Wasserman said. “Some of the roads that were fully black are covered in snow now. They’re counting on the rain to come in tonight.”

The National Weather Service said Sunday that the snow would switch to rain and sleet at around 7 p.m. Meteorologists expected the temperature to rise to about 36 degrees by 3 a.m. Monday.